The Mummy (1932 film)
| runtime = 73 min. | language = English | country = United States | budget = }} The Mummy is a 1932 horror film from Universal Studios directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff as a revived ancient Egyptian priest. The movie also features Zita Johann, David Manners and Edward Van Sloan. It was shot in Cantil, California, Universal City, and the Mojave Desert. Plot An Ancient Egyptian priest called Imhotep (Boris Karloff) is revived when an archaeological expedition led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron) finds Imhotep's mummy. Despite the warning of his friend Dr. Muller (Edward Van Sloan), Sir Joseph's assistant Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher), recklessly reads aloud an ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escapes from the archaeologists, taking the Scroll of Thoth, and prowls Cairo seeking the reincarnation of the soul of his ancient lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon. Ten years later, Imhotep calls upon Sir Joseph's son Frank (David Manners) and Prof. Pearson (Leonard Mudie), claims that his name is Ardath Bey, a modern Egyptian (also portrayed by Karloff), and shows them where to dig to find Ankh-es-en-amon's tomb. The archaeologists find the tomb, give the mummy and the treasures to the Cairo Museum, then thank Ardath Bey for giving them the information of where to find the tomb. Imhotep was once mummified alive for attempting to resurrect her, and, upon finding Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann), a woman bearing a striking resemblance to the Princess, he attempts to kill her, with the intention of mummifying her corpse, bringing it back to life using the ancient scroll, and making her his bride. In the end, she is saved when she remembers her past life and prays to the goddess Isis to save her. The prayer causes a ray from the statue of Isis to burst out raising its arm to point a glowing ankh at Imhotep. He ages and crumbles into dust. Frank then calls Helen back to the world of the living as the Scroll of Thoth burns. Cast (in credits order) *Boris Karloff as Ardath Bey/Imhotep (billed as KARLOFF) *Zita Johann as Helen Grosvenor/Princess Ankh-es-en-Amon *David Manners as Frank Whemple *Arthur Byron as Sir Joseph Whemple *Edward Van Sloan as Dr. Muller *Bramwell Fletcher as Ralph Norton *Noble Johnson as The Nubian *Kathryn Byron as Frau Muller *Leonard Mudie as Professor Pearson *James Crane as The Pharaoh Production Inspired by the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 and the Curse of the Pharaohs, producer Carl Laemmle Jr. commissioned story editor Richard Shayer to find a literary novel to form a basis for an Egyptian-themed horror film, just as Dracula and Frankenstein informed their previous hits. Shayer found none although the plot bears a strong resemblance to a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle entitled 'The Ring of Thoth'. Shayer and writer Nina Wilcox Putnam learned about Alessandro Cagliostro and wrote a nine-page treatment entitled Cagliostro. The story, set in San Francisco, was about a 3000-year old magician who survives by injecting nitrates. Laemmle was pleased, and he hired John L. Balderston to write the script. Balderston contributed to Dracula and Frankenstein, and had covered the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb for New York World when he was a journalist. He moved the story to Egypt and renamed the film and its title character Imhotep, after the historical architect. Karl Freund, the cinematographer on Dracula, was hired to direct two days before filming. The film was retitled The Mummy. He cast Zita Johann, who believed in reincarnation. Filming was scheduled for three weeks. Karloff's first day was spent shooting the Mummy's awakening from his sarcophagus. Make-up artist Jack Pierce had studied photos of Seti I's mummy to design Imhotep, though perhaps notably, Karloff looked nothing like the mummy of Seti I in the film, instead bearing a resemblance to the mummy of Ramesses III. Pierce began transforming Karloff at 11:00 am, applying cotton, collodion and spirit gum to his face; clay to his hair; and wrapping him in linen bandages treated with acid and burnt in an oven, finishing the job at 7:00 pm. Karloff finished his scenes at 2:00 am, and another two hours were spent removing the make-up. Karloff found the removal of gum from his face painful, and overall found the day "the most trying ordeal I had ever endured". Although the images of Karloff wrapped in bandages are the most iconic taken from the film, Karloff only appears on screen in this make-up for a few minutes; the rest of the film sees him wearing less elaborate make-up. A lengthy and detailed flashback sequence was filmed but ultimately cut out of the film. This sequence showed the various forms Anck-es-en-Amon was reincarnated in over the centuries. Stills exist of the flashbacks, but complete footage has yet to be found. It was shot in Cantil, California, Universal City, and the Mojave Desert. The piece of classical music heard during the opening credits, taken from the Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake, was previously also used for the opening credits of Dracula. Sequels and remakes Unlike Frankenstein and Dracula, and other, later Universal horror films, this film had no sequels, but rather was semi-remade in the 1940's b-film The Mummy's Hand (1940), and its sequels, The Mummy's Tomb (1942), The Mummy's Ghost (1944), The Mummy's Curse (1944), which were later spoofed in 1955's Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. These focus on the mummy Kharis. The Mummy's Hand recycled footage from the original film for use in the telling of Kharis' origins; Karloff is clearly visible in several of these recycled scenes, but he is not credited. In the late 1950s British Hammer Film Productions took up the Mummy theme, beginning with The Mummy (1959), which, rather than being a remake of the 1932 Karloff film, is based on Universal's The Mummy's Hand (1940) and The Mummy's Tomb (1942). Hammer's follow-ups — The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964), The Mummy's Shroud (1966) and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971) — are unrelated to the earlier film or indeed to each other. The 1999 Universal film The Mummy also suggests that it is a remake of the 1932 movie, and may be considered as such in that its titular character is Imhotep, resurrected from the dead by the Scroll of Thoth and out to find the present-day embodiment of the soul of his beloved Anck-su-namun, but develops there from a different story line, in common with most postmodern remakes of classic horror and science-fiction films. It spawned a sequel in 2001, The Mummy Returns, and a prequel spin-off of that sequel, The Scorpion King, in 2002, which in turn spawned a 2008 prequel, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior, and a 2012 sequel, The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption. A second sequel, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, was released in 2008. Also a short-lived animated series simply titled The Mummy ran from 2001-2003. Universal has announced another forthcoming remake of the film. Kroll, Justin, Snieder, Jeff, "U sets 'Mummy' reboot with Spaihts", Variety.com, Published 2012-04-04, Retrieved 2012-05-04. References External links * * Category:1932 films Category:1930s horror films Category:Ancient Egypt in fiction Category:Films set in Egypt Category:Black-and-white films Category:Mummy films Category:American horror films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by Karl Freund Category:Universal Pictures films Category:Films made before the MPAA Production Code Category:Universal Monsters film series Category:Films shot in California Category:1932 in California